Chelsea Selectboard Special Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, September 20, 2022, 6:30 pm at Chelsea Town Hall
Selectboard Members present: Levar Cole, Mark Whitney, Merrill Whitney, Bruce Hook
Other Town Employees present: Marianne McCann (Administrative Assistant)(Herald)
Members of the public present: Martin Prevost (DLL), Patrick Ross (DLL), Nick Zigelbaum

  1. Call meeting to order
    Meeting called to order by Levar Cole at 6:34 pm.
  2. Conflict of Interest Disclosure
    None.
  3. Changes to the agenda
    None.
  4. Discussion of liquor control and violations
    Patrick Ross, Investigator in the Office of Compliance and Enforcement for the Vermont Department of
    Liquor and Lottery, stated he was here to discuss liquor control information and he invited Martin
    Prevost, Director of Licensing to attend.
    Patrick Ross stated he looked into 3 incidents. An application by Pear Ridge Productions/Adventure
    Dinners was for an event that was scheduled to take place on September 3, 2022. The application was
    dated August 30, 2022. Ross does not know the status of that event.
    An application by Pear Ridge Productions/Adventure Dinners was for an event scheduled for June 25,
  5. The application was dated June 21, 2022. There was no actioning on that. No permit.
    An application by Pear Ridge Productions/Adventure Dinners was for an event scheduled for July 22,
  6. The application was dated July 6, 2022. Chelsea Selectboard disapproved the permit on July 19,
  7. The event was supposed to be attended by 60 people. The licensee conducted the event without a
    proper permit. The licensee was ticketed.
    There was another event, later than that, where there were screenshots of drinking in a field.
    The licensee has been ticketed. Since then, Pear Ridge Productions/Adventure Dinners did not apply for
    a license, but called the Director because they thought they were not going to get approval. Licensee
    was going to advertise bring your own beer. They can do whatever they want. The one she called on was
    a pig roast event. She was told food only. There are no other outstanding complaints about the licensee.
    There is no record with our office about Babe’s Bar.
    Levar Cole, Chair, asked should the Selectboard be concerned with problems, or should we rubber
    stamp things? The Town Clerk has informed liquor license applicants that the application must be on the
    agenda at a regularly scheduled Selectboard meeting. The Selectboard has always asked about recent
    violations.
    Patrick Ross stated according to statute, as long as it has to be warned. Your town does that. Generally,
    earlier is better. It (application) has to be received in our office by 5 days before the event. Under
    certain circumstances, we will act on something under 5 days. It must be on the application form. It
    must be warned. The Selectboard makes the deny or approve decision. Get it in early is always the best
    thing. Even though they (licensee) apply, and you (Selectboard) approve, we (DLL) still have to approve
    the application. Towns do different things. Per statute, it has to be a duly warned meeting.
    Mark Whitney stated I want to make sure we are doing what we are supposed to do. There are not a ton
    of events that happen in Chelsea. The company that does these dinners, they have them forecasted out
    a year. Is there such a thing as applying too far ahead?
    Martin Prevost stated within a year. Larger events might have to be further reviewed. The Selectboard
    can call the Department and check on the licensee. Feel free to reach out to us. Under FOIA it’s
    accessible. With local licensees (like bars or restaurants) you will get notices of violations on the
    application. The numbers are on the website.
    Mark Whitney asked, if we find violations, what are our best practices?
    Ross stated If emergency, call 911. State Police. Other than that, call me on my cell phone. We will
    investigate anything that is brought before us.
    Mark Whitney asked, is that the right thing to do, issuing a permit after a violation?
    Ross stated you would have to talk to your Town Attorney. If there is a licensee that continues to do
    things wrong, you need to contact your Town Attorney. The State does not enforce BYOB.
    Nick Ziegelbaum stated those 3 events took place at my place. I understand the authority of the control
    board. Adventure Dinners tried to host an event in June and applied too late. We still did the event and
    paid the fine. They paid for the event on July 21st that was denied. They do not know if they are going to
    get denied. It’s unclear whether the board will approve or deny. It’s a huge loss of revenue to do a BYOB
    event.
    Ross stated there is no answer, other than get it in and get it approved well ahead of time. As far as how
    long the disapproval would last, the attorney would have to be involved. The corrective plan is applying
    with enough time.
    Mark Whitney stated there was an email sent where they did not apologize and they said they would try
    not to do that again. Whitney stated this is a transgression of knowledge.
    Nick Ziegelbaum stated all the food was purchased.
    Investigator Patrick Ross stated you can only do that so many times.
    Nick Ziegelbaum stated the decision now is not do we apply early or late. But now, the decision is do we
    apply at all. I’m the representative.
    Martin Prevost stated we cannot take action on something that has not taken place. The State cannot
    take action until this board has taken action. The board sanctioned the caterer. The caterer took the
    sanction. Our board thought that appropriate. We would not deny a permit moving forward.
    Investigator Ross took the action of issuing a monetary ticket. That is corrective action. It is progress in
    our eyes that the applicant called us. My suggestion to you is get the application in as soon as you can.
    We accept applications only online now. If the Selectboard approves and sends it to us, there is not
    enough evidence to deny it.
    Nick Ziegelbaum stated he is representing Kate MacLean as well. What is the timeline for us putting stuff
    on the agenda? A month?
    Cole stated the agendas usually are finalized the Friday before a Selectboard meeting on the following
    Tuesday. Usually, Thursday noon is the deadline.
    Nick Ziegelbaum asked will you deny the next permit if it is submitted in time? We can jump through
    hoops, but what are they?
    Ross stated we invite anyone who needs to fall under general operations to apply for a permit.
    Nick Ziegelbaum asked can we apply for multiple days?
    Ross stated Saturday and Sunday are okay, one day as a back-up date.
  8. Public Comments
    None.
  9. Adjourn
    Special Selectboard meeting adjourned at 7:09 pm.